her counterpart, paul ryan, the republican, is the house budget chairman. they're the key players and they set a friday deadline to get a budget agreement done. this is thought to be a critical week with the senate returning from their recess. ryan murray and the staff keep talking. >> the key is we not have another government shutdown, we do keep the spending cuts in place, we don't raise taxes at a time when the economy is still weak and i think we can accomplish that the next couple of days. >> a new wrinkle is a push by democrats to extend unemployment benefits. they're due to run out for 1.3 million americans on december 28. and since any budget agreement will likely require a lot of democratic votes in both the house and senate, they like this part of the budget deal or at least a side agreement for an extension. >> negotiating are making progress, moving in the right direction. they haven't closed the deal but i certainly hope as part of it, that the negotiators will take to heart what the president had to say. there are working families across ameri